CrownBio and NEXT Oncology Announce Strategic PDX Model Partnership

Agreement adds 350 premium tumor PDX models to world’s largest PDX collection

San Diego, Calif – October 28, 2019 — Crown Bioscience today announced a strategic collaboration with NEXT Oncology to provide new clinically-relevant PDX models for preclinical drug development. The agreement establishes CrownBio as the exclusive global commercialization partner for all primary tumor PDX models generated by NEXT Oncology for the next five years.

These models will be developed from patients who are considering participation in early clinical trials, and incorporate the latest targeted therapies and immunotherapies, with a particular focus on mechanisms of resistance. The partnership will initially provide 350 PDX models to be established over the next five years, each model will be paired with critical characterization data and associated patient clinical history.

“This exclusive agreement will enable CrownBio to not just maintain but further enhance our position as the industry’s leading provider of PDX models augmented by valuable clinical insight through NEXT Oncology’s world-leading oncologists,” said Dr. Jean-Pierre Wery, chief executive officer of CrownBio. “By working alongside NEXT Oncology, our global customer base will soon be able to access the latest cutting-edge models as we continue to forge new frontiers in oncology drug discovery.”

As part of the agreement, NEXT Oncology will leverage CrownBio’s unrivaled expertise in the development of PDX models from patient tissues, its systems biology platform (AI), and associated biomarkers and companion diagnostic discovery capability.

“We are delighted to partner with Crown Bioscience. It’s an exciting prospect that models developed by NEXT Oncology through our unique patient access will now be made available to researchers worldwide through CrownBio’s global reach and preclinical service expertise,” said Dr. Anthony W. Tolcher, M.D., FRCPC. “This alliance equips the drug development community with powerful new translational tools to guide the creation of novel and improved treatments for cancer to ultimately change patients’ lives.”

The initial models from this agreement are expected to be ready for client studies by mid-year 2020.

Crown Bioscience, a JSR Life Sciences company, is a global drug discovery and development service company providing translational platforms to advance oncology, inflammation, and metabolic disease research. With an extensive portfolio of relevant models and predictive tools, Crown Bioscience enables clients to deliver superior clinical candidates. For more information, visit:

https://www.crownbio.com

https://www.jsrlifesciences.com

NEXT Oncology, founded by Anthony W. Tolcher, M.D., FRCPC, is a Phase I center located in San Antonio, TX, dedicated to providing options for advanced cancer patients and advancing cancer research. NEXT Oncology’s mission is to transform the industry through the development of the next breakthrough in cancer research through high quality Phase 1 clinical pharmacology trials. For more information about NEXT Oncology visit https://www.nextoncology.com

Media Enquiries:

Jody Barbeau

Crown Bioscience Inc.

marketing@crownbio.com

Kelly Morris

Public Relations

kellymorrispr@gmail.com